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Romanticism and Gothic Elements
American gothic literature
Romanticism and Gothic Elements
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In the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe were known for their use of gothic elements in their types of writing. The plot of gothic literature novels typically involves people who become involved in complex and oftentimes evil paranormal schemes, usually against an innocent and helpless heroine. Poe used gothic dimensions to explore the human mind in extreme situations. Hawthorne examined the human heart under conditions of fear, vanity, mistrust, and betrayal. Even though Hawthorne and Poe used the gothic elements, they still used different types of darkness to portray their writing to the reader.
In the aged version of gothic romanticism, the gloomy aspects are still found; however, they are depicted in different manners. An example of modified gothic romanticism is seen in Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” by its supernatural conflict, and setting in the mysterious, abandoned Native American Fort. Irving’s
The Ledged of Sleepy Hollow Discussion 3 Sleepy hollow is a good story to read I really did not think that I would like it but I do. It is about Ichabod Crane and how he loves Katrina Van Tassel and tries to win her love and how she has other suiters that want her. Sleepy hollow talks about how the town is different from most towns and about the Horseman. It talks about how Ichabod is a schoolteacher and how he is with his students.
The two American Literature Gothics,“Young Goodman and Brown” and “The Man in the Black Suit” are interesting stories. Young Goodman Brown is a young man who just got married and he leaves his wife Faith to go on a journey. On his way he meets a mysterious man. The road he took is darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest and that is where Brown comes in contact with the devil as his guide. Brown sees all of the evil of the town such as the minister whipping girls and he also sees the woman who taught him Bible lessons as evil.
Both versions do a great job of explaining this. Although there are many similarities between the book and movie versions of these stories, there are also many differences. The book version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow takes place in Tarrytown, NY. Tarrytown is located a few miles away from Sleepy Hollow, NY. The movie actually takes place in Sleepy Hollow.
In order for a story to fall under gothic, it must play off of some type of fear that a large scale can relate to. The short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates plays off of contemporary fears at a psychological level.
Poe wrote many gothic stories , but people during his time did not accept them because they thought his writing was different, peculiar , and all in all , scary. The American Contemporary Gothic genre is also grotesque
Gothicism In Modern Times Gothic literature is a genre that often focuses on dark, mysterious scenery and supernatural, suspenseful, or melodramatic events. It usually takes place in an ancient building with medieval architecture, such as a castle (Kennedy). The first gothic novel written was The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole in 1764. He combined medieval romance with gothic elements that have been carried on for centuries and are still used to this day for entertainment.
Gothic novels are an English subgenre of horror and have fictional aspects. They emphasize and explore the themes of terror and mystery, utilizing female protagonists who typically are or become insane. Gothic novels were written and at their popularity peak in the 18th century. Stereotypically set in medieval times with an atmosphere of mystery, terror and death, they have features of fantasy ranging from ghosts to vampires. Alice Munro and Susan Hill both infuse gothic elements into their pieces, giving them an eerie and sinister ambience through various literary techniques; similes, metaphors, personification.
Gothic fiction is the Romantic Period’s form of self-expression involving terror, madness and the supernatural. The terror, madness and the supernatural concepts that this form of fiction offers, are the reasons why critics believe individuals should resist reading it, listening to it or watching it. Many critics believe that such form of expression from writers could influence the public into possibly performing other similar treacherous actions. Another reason that critics offer for resisting Gothic fiction is for the possible outbreak of resistance to authority. According to Gothic critics, the adrenaline and satisfaction of reading, listening, or seeing bad actions could make the public feel some sort of empowerment to stand against authority.
Gothic Romance The institution of Gothic imagery into literature marked the foundation of a new subgenre in the Romantic Era. Precursors such as Irving, Poe, and Hawthorne each played a major role in this popularization. Their obsession with the macabre and their talent for arousing mystery birthed a generation of horror enthusiasts. In Washington Irving’s famous tale of “Rip Van Winkle,” he cleverly wields the gothic elements of Romanticism: confusion, the mystic, and defied reason.
The Gothic tradition originated in response to a period of rapid and far-reaching societal, cultural, and theological change in eighteenth-century Europen. herently linked to the social context in which they were created, and a great deal of critical commentary focuses on the representation of societal and cultural fear in the face of the dissolution of tradition, gender roles, oppression, and race in Gothic literature. it saids in the lesson 1 of gothic literature Castle of Otranto it describes Gothic consistently throughout a work. For example, in gothic texts, we will often encounter themes of marriage and courtship, the supernatural and unexplainable, and the persecuted woman.
Gothic literature is a style of literature that takes place in the past, most of the time it has someone who dies and it has a creepy vibe/tone behind it . Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” is a good example of Gothic literature because it shows how a man goes to visit an old friend and see how his friend and his friends twin sister die. “The whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day. ”(13)
Implementation of gothic elements Gothic novels focus on the mysterious and supernatural. In Frankenstein, Shelley uses rather mysterious circumstances
In the early 18th century a new genre of fiction prose, named "Gothic Novel" was introduced. The term ”Gothic” used to refer to the German tribe of the Goths. The Gothic novel spread over the 19th century and had the popular theme of haunted places such as castles, crypts, gloomy monasteries; supernatural elements having the role to intensify the atmosphere. The characteristic motifs of the gothic genre were the strange places, the supernatural, magic objects, monsters, demons, science used for bad purposes. And many of them appear also in "The Picture of Dorian Gray".